Operational for almost a year, the building is truly a shared facility between U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff and the Canada Border Services Agency, which includes Canadian customs, immigration and food safety functions. Lunchroom facilities, locker rooms, conference rooms, and other areas of the building are shared by both staffs. Employee concerns were key in the facility’s design. A common computer system for CBP allows all employees to perform their work at any location as well as increased sharing of network printers.

The facility includes a three-level main building, housing U.S. and Canadian agencies, a cargo processing and examination facility, vehicle inspection facility, gamma x-ray technology facility, firing range and armory, and an outbound inspection booth. Areas where commercial clients or travelers enter the facility for questioning or secondary inspection are in distinctly separate areas of the building, since procedures are different for each country.

Photo Credit: Henry Ong

A view of the Sweetgrass crossing from the Montana side looking towards Canada.

Larry Overcast, CBP Port Director at Sweetgrass, says, “This facility allows us to continue partnering with our neighbors to the north, working toward a common goal of maintaining border security while facilitating legitimate trade. Having a shared facility such as this also increases communication and interaction between the officers, and therefore information sharing between the two countries.”

Overcast says the use of updated tools and technology, including mobile x-ray, radiation portal monitors and other equipment, improves both border protection and upgrades basic services. Some of the improvements in the new port facility are also built for comfort. Because of the severe winter weather in this part of the country, it was important to have a heated, enclosed area where both commercial and private vehicles and their occupants requiring additional inspection could be brought in out of the cold. In addition, both countries realized the need to address safety concerns associated with hazardous cargo such as propane or gas, so separate facilities for hazmat materials were constructed.

The location in Sweetgrass/Coutts joins U.S. Interstate Highway 15 (one of the primary north-south highways in the U.S.) and Highway 4 (leading to Calgary and Edmonton in Canada). Last year, more than 1.3 million travelers and 400,000 trucks crossed there.

Speaking at the dedication ceremony were The Honorable Dan Hays, Speaker of the Senate of Canada, Tom Hardy, CBP Director of Field Operations, Seattle area (which includes Sweetgrass and other northern ports), officials from the General Services Administration, and others who contributed to this innovative project.

The 100,000 square foot facility is light years ahead of the original border crossing at Sweetgrass/Coutts, a railway area, which in 1890 had one building and a white line drawn in the road between the two countries. Now, with six lanes going north, the port has the highest traffic volume in the state of Montana.